Janka Hlinka or Janka Hlinková (born 31 October 1995) is a Slovak-American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

and member of the Slovak national team, currently playing in the

European Women's Hockey League The European Women's Hockey League, abbreviated EWHL, is an international ice hockey league. Created as the Elite Women's Hockey League in 2004 by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the EWHL comprises clubs from several countries in ...

(EWHL) with ŠKP Bratislava. She previously played in the

Premier Hockey Federation The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was a women's professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from March 2015 until June 2023. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), com ...

(PHF) with the Connecticut Whale. Her

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the go ...

career was played at

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

, where she won three

New England Small College Athletic Conference The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division III, Division III comprising sports teams from eleven highly s ...

championships.

Playing career

As a player with the Middlebury Panthers women's ice hockey program, Hlinka recorded 20 goals and 45 assists for a total of 65 points in 113 career NCAA Division III games. She and future Whale teammate

Emily Fluke Emily Fluke is an American ice hockey forward, currently playing for the Connecticut Whale of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). A two-time PHF All-Star, she formerly served as captain of the Connecticut Whale and is currently the 9th leadin ...

were Panther teammates for one season. Hlinka relocated to Europe after graduating from college. During the 2018–19 campaign, she suited up for ŠKP Bratislava U16 in the , the top under-16 (U16) boys' league in Slovakia, posting 12 goals and 11 assists in 21 games. She then spent two seasons with

Skellefteå AIK Skellefteå AIK is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Skellefteå. They currently play In the Swedish Hockey League. They play their home games in Skellefteå Kraft Arena, which seats 6,001 spectators. The team has won the Swedish Ch ...

in the Swedish

Damettan Nationella Damhockeyligan () or NDHL is the second-highest women's ice hockey league in Sweden. It was previously known as the Damettan or Damettan i ishockey during 2015 to 2021, and Division 1 during 2007 to 2015. The league engages in active ...

, where she led the team in scoring both seasons. She tallied 25

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

(14+11) in 21 games over the span. Hlinka played in 16 regular season games with the Connecticut Whale and two playoff games of the

2021–22 PHF season The 2021–22 PHF season was the seventh season of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), which was known as the National Women's Hockey League during the previous six seasons, in North America. After mostly playing in a bubble environment the prev ...

, including the Whale's first appearance in the

Isobel Cup The Lady Isobel Gathorne-Hardy Cup, often shortened to Isobel Cup, is the championship trophy that was awarded annually to the now defunct Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) playoff winner. The trophy is named after Lady Isobel Gathorne-Hardy, th ...

International play

Hlinka represented Slovakia in the Division I Group A tournaments of the

IIHF Women's World Championship The IIHF Women's World Championship is the premier international women's tournament in ice hockey. It is governed by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The official world competition was first held in 1990, with four more champions ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, and

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. She led the team in goals at the 2019 tournament, notching two across five games played. She ranked second in scoring of all tournament skaters at the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship Division I Group B, with 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points in five games. Her performance was recognized with selection as the best forward of the tournament by the tournament directorate and as best player for Slovakia by the coaches.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

''Note: Postseason statistics from the 2019–20 Damettan season are from the

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

series and are not included in playoff totals.'' Source:

International

References

External links

*
Janka Hlinková
at

Hockey Slovakia The Slovak Ice Hockey Federation (, SZĽH) is the governing body that oversees ice hockey in Slovakia. Paul Loicq Award recipient Juraj Okoličány served as chairman and vice-president of the federation from 1990 to 2003. National teams * Slo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hlinka, Janka 1995 births Living people American people of Slovak descent American women's ice hockey forwards Choate Rosemary Hall alumni Connecticut Whale (PHF) players Middlebury College alumni Middlebury Panthers athletes People from Stratford, Connecticut Skellefteå AIK (women) players Slovak women's ice hockey forwards Ice hockey people from Fairfield County, Connecticut 21st-century American sportswomen